No Longer Afraid
by carrotcouple
Summary: Traumatized by an incident from his past, Yukine learns this time around that even if it's dark, he's not alone. For Yukine Week 2016. Day 2 - Family or The Dark.


Yukine didn't like going to sleep until his older brother, Yato had gone to sleep. But the idiot was a mangaka so he had the habit of missing deadlines or just starting way too late. Yukine always tried to make him complete his work on time, but the track suit wearing moron was a pain to handle. Yukine just didn't like it when there was someone else awake in the house. Before he had been rescued by Child Care, Yukine always tried to come back home after his father had fallen asleep amongst his bottles of alcohol. Yato was cursing and drawing in the other room. He could hear him and his editor, Kazuma arguing. Yukine pitied Kazuma.

Because Yukine couldn't sleep, he was awake studying. He wasn't all that into studying, but Yukine didn't want to give Yato any problems. He had finally found a place where he belonged and he was going to do whatever it took to keep this place. Also, Yato was known as a prodigy. Despite his social stupidity and laziness, he topped all of his classes and outdid everyone in sports and extracurricular activities. He was a genius even when he tried not to be. But all Yukine could see most of the time was an idiot. Yukine would be damned if Yato could get such great grades without trying and Yukine wouldn't be able to even if he tried. Yukine chewed on the end of his pen trying to solve the math problem in front of him.

And then everything went dark.

"What is this, a power outage?" Yato yelled.

Yukine sat there, frozen. _Thump, thump._ Yukine heard the blood in his ears. _He couldn't breathe._

"HELP ME!" Yukine screamed in a raw voice, toppling off the bed, fists clutching his shirt, his mouth hanging open as he tried to breath, screaming with an intensity that hurt his throat. He felt the sensation of a pillow pressed over his head, fists pounding into his body as he screamed. Every faded bruise and cut was ingrained into his memory. He was crying, sobbing, screaming, _begging_ his father to stop. It hurt. It hurt so much. The pillow was suffocating him. Was he going to die? It was dark. He couldn't see a thing. Was he going to die this way? Not able to see a thing. Was he going to die so _damn_ terrified?

There was a small tiny light rushing towards him.

"Yukine! Oi, Yukine! Calm down, you're fine. You're OK. I'm right here." Yato pulled a crying and hiccupping Yukine into his arms. "Breathe, Yukine! Come on, inhale, exhale. Breathe!"

"What's happening?" Kazuma asked, worried.

"Kazuma, there's this really big car light on Hiyori's piano outside. Go get it." Yato snapped.

"Right!"

There wasn't enough light. It was just a pinprick of light. The phone flashlight couldn't erase the shadows of his nightmares that had come to life right in front of him. Yukine dug his nails into Yato's arm, a strangled noise escaping his throat.

 _Can't breathe. It's so dark. He's here. He's in this room. That monster is trying to kill me again. What if he tries to kill Yato too?_ Yukine thought, half delirious. _Help me! Someone please help me! Why won't anyone help me?_

"I brought it!" Kazuma's loud voice said.

"Then turn it on, genius! He's not breathing!" Yato snarled.

The room was awash with light and the shadows were chased away.

"There, it's not dark anymore. You're OK, Yukine. You're OK. He's not here. Kazuma and I are here to protect you. Hiyori will be here in the morning. That man can never touch you again." Yato said reassuringly, jerking his head at Kazuma to make Kazuma kneel down next to Yukine as well. Yukine made one last strangled noise and then sucked in a lungful of air.

 _He's not here._

His shivering stopped and he let go of Yato's arm. The shadows were gone. The pillow was no longer suffocating him. There were no fists pummelling into his undernourished body. It wasn't dark. He could see. He _wasn't_ going to die. Yato was there and so was Kazuma. Yukine slumped to the ground, all tension leaving his body.

"Here, let's put you on the bed. The lights should turn back on in maximum five minutes." Yato pulled Yukine up and set him on his bed. Yato closed all of Yukine's books carefully and put them on Yukine's desk. Yato sat on the bed next to Yukine, stroking his hair comfortingly. The lights all turned on. A sigh of relief whispered from Yukine's lips. "I'll go make some hot chocolate for you." Yato started to get up. Yukine grabbed his sleeve in a vice grip. The dark may have disappeared, but the shadows in Yukine's heart and memories hadn't disappeared yet. "Thinking again, why don't you go make it, Kazuma?" Yato asked.

"Huh? You want me to make it?" Kazuma asked.

"Yeah." Yato nodded. "The mix should be on the kitchen counter and the marshmallows are in a jar on the shelf." Yato tilted his head.

"Fine. I'll be making it then." Kazuma went out the door. Yato continued to stroke Yukine's hair.

"Want to tell me about it?" Yato asked gently. Yukine shuddered. It wasn't something he had told to people. He had told Ebisu and Child Care plenty of things, just enough to get his father locked away. He had sometimes mentioned small things to Yato as well. When Yukine had first arrived, he had been too scared to enter the dark house. Yato caught on quickly enough and made sure there was enough light whenever Yukine was around. But Yukine had never told him why he was afraid of the dark.

"Um..." Yukine swallowed. He trusted Yato. He wanted to tell Yato. "One time...Dad was really, really drunk...I think..." Yukine closed his eyes, grip tightening on Yato's sleeve. "I think he thought I was... _mom_." Yukine started to cry. "He put a pillow over my face, suffocating me and beat me up. I couldn't breathe. It hurt so much...I couldn't see...I couldn't..." Yukine broke off into choked sobs and then Yato pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But...it's OK. He can't hurt you here. He's never going to come back into our lives." Yato reassured.

"Really?" Yukine sniffled.

"Yeah, really." Yato smiled. Yato then told him about the latest volume of his manga he was working on. It was a historical mythology manga. Yukine could understand why it was so popular, although he had yet to read it himself.

"You know, you could do us all a favour and do your work properly so that we can release this issue." Kazuma deadpanned as he walked in with Yukine's hot chocolate.

"I'm doing what I can!" Yato huffed.

"So, Yukine kun, how is school? I hear you're in a special school for Arts. What do you want to become?" Kazuma asked as he handed Yukine his hot chocolate. The hot chocolate warmed the chill in the pit of Yukine's stomach.

"School is fine. I'm not really sure what I want to become yet, but I think I'd like to pursue culinary arts..." Yukine mumbled.

"That's a great idea. And you're a responsible kid too, so you won't end up like this thing." Kazuma grinned.

"And who exactly are you talking about, huh, Kazuma? You want me to delay my manuscript even more?" Yato growled.

"If you do that," Kazuma said, fixing his tie. "I will ask Iki san to beat you up." Kazuma said.

"Damn you!" Yato whined.

"Yukine kun...I don't know what happened to you...but I understand it must be painful. My foster sister, Touma was murdered by her grandmother when she was just eleven. I still get nightmares even now." Kazuma explained. Yukine stared with wide eyes. Why was it so easy for Kazuma to tell him these things? "But over time, I understood. No matter how painful or scary something is, we're meant to grow up and discard those feelings of pain, fear and anger. So, you'll be fine if you just remember that no matter how dark things are, Yato, Hiyori and Ebisu are with you. Even I'll be here for you."

Yukine was a little awed, he had to admit.

"Hey, don't go stealing the love of my little brother, Kazuma. You can never replace me!" Yato frowned at Kazuma.

"Yeah, yeah, useless brother that you are." Kazuma shook his head.

"You wanna go, buddy?" Yato raised his fists. "This is a fight to determine who deserves to be Yukine's brother!" Yato shot up from the bed.

"Are you an idiot?" Kazuma deadpanned.

Yukine laughed.

The world seemed so much more brighter already.

"What, are you scared of me?" Yato asked.

"No way. It would just be such a pain fighting you and your disgusting tracksuit." Kazuma said.

"Hah? This tracksuit is my charm, you know! There's a reason why..."

Warm, filled with hot chocolate and feeling very, very safe, Yukine's mind tuned out the voices and fell asleep. When Yukine woke up, he saw Kazuma sleeping on a futon on the ground, Yato sleeping in Yukine's chair, head on Yukine's desk and Hiyori sitting on a chair from the dining table, head on Yukine's bed as she slept. Sunlight streamed in through the windows. Yukine smiled.

He didn't have to be afraid of the dark anymore.

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 **A/N -** **This is for Yukine Week 2016, Day 2 - Family or The Dark. It's already up on my tumblr carrotcouple. You can go check it out if you'd like too! Happy Yukine Week you guys!**


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